The 'huge issue' of water

The following article appeared in the May17, 2006 Jefferson County edition of the Peninsula Daily News.

---

The 'huge issue' of water
Marrowstone Island pipeline friends and foes have final chance to plead case

By Jeff Chew
Peninsula Daily News

PORT TOWNSEND — A Jefferson County deputy hearing examiner took final public testimony Tuesday for and against a long-debated water system proposed for Marrowstone Island.

Some of about 50 people crowding the county courthouse commissioners chambers — mostly Marrowstone residents — touched on issues such as the Chimacum Valley aquifer, wetlands, soils, the shoreline, water rights and water capacity.

That came after the county Department of Community Development accepted more than 50 pieces of written public comments and opinions from seven public agencies in the county's Development Review Division overseeing the Jefferson County Public Utility District project.

The PUD is proposing the pipeline system in the wake of wells either dried up or fouled by salt water on Marrowstone.

Mark Hurdelbrink, a deputy hearing examiner for the county hired from the Tacoma law firm of McCarthy, Causseaux, Rourke Inc., told those who sat and stood through more than an hour of testimony that he will issue a written decision in two weeks.

"Obviously, this is a huge issue," Hurdelbrink said, closing the hearing in the crowded room in which many complained about the lack of a sound system to hear testimony.

The state Department of Ecology has the final say in the PUD's application, but a high-ranking Ecology official last week voiced the department's general support for a Marrowstone water system.

Jefferson County commissioners are not part of the decision-making process.

At the heart of the hearing was a county shoreline substantial development permit that would allow Jefferson County PUD to lay eight-, six-, four- and two-inch waterlines along county and state roads criss-crossing the island and coming within 250 feet of the shoreline.

The roadway would act as a protective barrier between the road and shoreline, said Johnson.

In about nine areas the waterlines would come within 250 feet of the shoreline.

They include an area a quarter-mile north of the causeway on state Highway 116 connecting Marrowstone Island with Indian Island, Mystery Bay just north of Nordland, another area north of Highway 116, the end of Madrona Road, the end of Murphy Road, along Fort Gate Road, at the intersection of East Beach Road and East Marrowstone Road, on Jansen Road, and at the sourthern end of the island short of the intersection of Robbins Road and Beach Drive.

10 conditions

Based on its findings, the county planning staff recommends project approval under 10 conditions: PUD obtains an administrative conditional use permit, a county public works permit for the water lines in county right of way, a permit to place lines in state Department of Transportation rights of way, substantial project progress within two years, and the PUD must consult with a state Fish and Wildlife biologist to avoid disturbing nesting eagles.

Other conditions recommended: Water lines at least 10 feet from all septic systems, waterlines only on the landward side of the road when within 200 feet of the shore, implementation of pollution and erosion controls, and immediate restoration of installation sites to pre-project condition.

Basic needs

Several of 10 testified before Hurdelbrink in favor of a water system to meet basic needs.

"We have a health issue and we have a fire issue," said Joe Lovato, a Marrowstone resident of 18 years and a Port Hadlock businessman.

Comparing life on Marrowstone to "living in a Third World county" for those who truck in water from Port Hadlock, Lovato said:

"You have to be in the postition like that for 18 years to know what I am talking about."

Ralph Rush, a Water for Marrowstone group leader and shellfish farm operator for 30 years, said if he felt the PUD project would hurt water quality needed for shellfish, he would not support it.

"The runoff has not affected the shellfish," Rush said.

"If there was contamination from runoff from (road) ditches, we would consider closure."

Port Townsend environmental activist Nancy Dorgan, a longtime voice against the project, told Hurdelbrink:

"When you get down to it, the maintenance of ditches is what this is really about."

Saying Jefferson was a "critical water supply county," Dorgan contended that the Jefferson County Coordinated Water System Plan needed to be amended before PUD could commence construction.

She claimed that PUD made "some very serious water process errors" along with others, and that a State Environmental Policy Act review was required.

"People complaining about fouling the nest of Marrowstone Island are not concerned about fouling the nest of Chimacum Valley," said Dorgan, arguing that there was no study of the impact of taking water from the valley for consumption on Marrowstone.

She also voiced issues with digging ditches for lines with road sediment dredged up that was accumulated from vehicles dropping heavy metals on the roadways over the years.

Such heavy metals as lead, copper, cadmium and chromium typically come off cars.

She also complained that a state Joint Aquatic Resource Permits Application, or JARPA review, was missing from the record.

"This is really a serious shoreline that we are talking about here," Dorgan said.

Marrowstone Island resident Rita Kepner called for sustainable water for the island and the entire county.

Nala Walla, a Marrowstone resident for 10 years, also called for water sustainability on the island, voicing support for water catchment systems.

"We're all here talking about ditches," she said. "Is there any water to put in the pipeline?"

She said she was also concerned about drawing down water in Chimacum Valley to serve Marrowstone at the expense of fish-bearing streams such as Snow and Chimacum creeks.

Norm MacLeod, who helped form Olympic Water Users Association to help shepherd through a state Ecology instream flow rule to ensure future water for humans and fish, told the hearing examiner that he saw no negative environmental effects from waterline ditches.

He said more pollution comes from boats moored in Killisut Harbor between Marrowstone and Indian Islands.

PUD support

The PUD"s administrator also defended the project.

"I think the PUD is really concerned with water and planning to meet future needs," said PUD General Manager Jim Parker, citing PUD's recent aquisition of the natural Peterson Lake to help meet water needs in growing Chimacum Valley, the planned aquifer source of water for Marrowstone.

Parker was joined by Paul Anderson, PUD's Marrowstone project consultant with Bellevue-based Parametrix.

About 100 wells of the estimated 500 on Marrowstone Island are either dry or contaminated by saltwater intrusion, a growing problem.

PUD officials have had Parametrix delineate wetlands on the island where the pipeline will run.

PUD built a water reservoir to also provide water to the Fort Flagler State Park for firefighting, and as a back up to Marrowstone residents in case of a water shortage.

Water to 300 homes

The water project would bing water to about 300 homes on the island.

PUD officials reapplied for county and state permits after prevailing over a lawsuit filed by a group of residents opposing the project.

The PUD Marrowstone water project has been endorsed by Jefferson County's three state lawmakers, Rep. Lynn Kessler, Rep. Jim Buck, and Sen. Jim Hargorve.

Port Townsend/Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.